Quebec - Common Law Partner Confusion!

[Beppe]

Hello ladies & gentlemen

Newbie question here if I may (have not found answer in previous posts).
I am a Canadian citizen. My girlfriend of 6 years is a British national which I met while working in Europe.
I have now moved back to Canada & she has come back with me.
She has been here for now 2 weeks so we are starting our Visa adventure... in Quebec!

Firstly, if I understand correctly, I have to be accepted as a sponsor by the Federal government.
Once I am accepted I begin procedures with Quebec provincial government.
To get accepted as a sponsor I Only need to send IMM1344E form to Canadian Immigration - is this correct?
If not, what are the other forms we have to fill out?

Secondly, are there British or commonwealth national offered any type of preferential treatments?

Thank you very very much in advance for any help you might give us.

Beppe

 

[frege]

Hello ladies & gentlemen

Newbie question here if I may (have not found answer in previous posts).
I am a Canadian citizen. My girlfriend of 6 years is a British national which I met while working in Europe.
I have now moved back to Canada & she has come back with me.
She has been here for now 2 weeks so we are starting our Visa adventure... in Quebec!

Firstly, if I understand correctly, I have to be accepted as a sponsor by the Federal government.
Once I am accepted I begin procedures with Quebec provincial government.
To get accepted as a sponsor I Only need to send IMM1344E form to Canadian Immigration - is this correct?
If not, what are the other forms we have to fill out?

Secondly, are there British or commonwealth national offered any type of preferential treatments?

Thank you very very much in advance for any help you might give us.

Beppe

Since you're not married, you have to have lived together for at least one year to qualify as "common-law" partners. There's also a "conjugal partners" category for people who haven't lived together, but usually you have to have very serious reasons for not having lived together.

You're incorrect about the form. You have to apply to sponsor her and include with your application her application for permanent residence. This all has to be submitted together at the outset, and there are several forms. Most of the documentation you submit will be evidence that your relationship is genuine, and, since you're not married, that you've actually lived together for more than a year. (With recent changes to regulations, you might want to prove two years, so that she's not subject to "conditional" permanent residence.) You'll need police certificates from all countries she's lived in for more than six months. She'll need to undergo a medical exam by a designated doctor before you submit your application.

At a later point you'll submit some documentation to the Quebec government, but this is quick and is a formality for most people.

There are two kinds of applications - "from within Canada" and "from outside Canada." Unless your girlfriend already has a work or study permit for Canada, it's highly probable that you'll prefer an "outside Canada" application, even though she's with you in Canada. This is particularly true for you because processing times at the London visa office are relatively short (you can expect to wait about six or seven months from the time you submit the application).

The application package for an "outside Canada" application can be found here:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/fc.asp

Officially, there's no preference for British people. However, you'll often hear the opinion expressed that CIC is less suspicious of people from developed countries.

By the way, if your girlfriend is in Canada with visitor status, you'll have to apply to renew it about a month before her time runs out, which is normally six months after the date stamped in her passport.

 

[Beppe]

Thanks a million Frege.
Spent half the night surfing all those cryptic sites from Federal/Provincial side.
Will now investigate further based on your reply.
Best Regards

Beppe

 

[Beppe]

Ok, so it's starting to make slightly more sense after pouring through all the forms.
We got most of it covered & the misses went for her medical exam today.
Hope to send the whole package by early december.

Next query I guess is predictable: work permit!
As for many in these forums I would imagine, the idea of her sitting around for 12+ months of idleness is sort of sad.
I might already have found her some jobs through contacts that she would love & keep her busy. The positions would be in her field of teaching disabled kids.

Are any of you aware of how we could get the spouse of a canadian citizen a work permit while we wait for permanent residency!

Thanks again for dome great info in here!

 

[Sweden]

Ok, so it's starting to make slightly more sense after pouring through all the forms.
We got most of it covered & the misses went for her medical exam today.
Hope to send the whole package by early december.

Next query I guess is predictable: work permit!
As for many in these forums I would imagine, the idea of her sitting around for 12+ months of idleness is sort of sad.
I might already have found her some jobs through contacts that she would love & keep her busy. The positions would be in her field of teaching disabled kids.

Are any of you aware of how we could get the spouse of a canadian citizen a work permit while we wait for permanent residency!

Thanks again for dome great info in here!

Hey Beppe,

if you are applying outland ( which I suppose you are), then there is nothing in terms of work permit.
Your spouse can qualify for a job if an employer is willing to go through a LMO ( Labour Market Opinion, to show that they can not find a canadian for the job, so they have to hire somebody else).

If your girlfriend qualifies, she can apply for an IEC Visa. here is the link http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/united_kingdom-royaume_uni/experience_canada_experience/index.aspx?view=d
it's not open yet, but should be open soon - but you have to monitor the page closely, because it's only open for a few days and they go very fast!

Otherwise - she will probably have to wait. If you're lucky though, it should be around 7 months, or maybe even less - stage 1 is 35 days ( it was 92 when I applied), and in London quite a few people get done in 3 to 4 months - so if all goes very well, your application is straightforward and no documents are missing, you might be done in 6 months.

Good luck,
Sweden

 

[Beppe]

Hello again ladies/gents

Well, it's been a lomg hard document gathering phase but the italian police reports showed up, we got them transalted by an recognized translator & the whole package was shipped to Vegreville AB (applied for Spouse Inland) on february first.

Canada post tracking shows parcel properly received a few days later.

Now the waiting game begins.

Anyone have a ball park figure of the time needed to get an aknowledgement from CIC?

Once we do get this from CIC, what should be our next moves exactly?
Can we apply for a medicare card here in Quebec with this CIC aknowledgement ?
Work permit application possible?
Will we receive some CIC ID number with which to start Quebec immigration procedures?

As always, thanks for all your help.
Couldn`t have properly done it all without your help & experience.

Thanks!

Bye

 

[QuebecOkie]

Hi! We applied inland from within Quebec, as well (I'm American, husband is Canadian).

Here's a spreadsheet that can give you an idea of the timelines other inland applicants are experiencing:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ArrQkNcsLVotdDJOOWJlZkhVOEhCMHZCakNoa3UzVHc#gid=0

Our application package was received Oct 23, 2012. We received an emailed letter from CIC on January 28. The letter said they'd received my husban's application to sponsor and gave instructions on submitting materials to MICC (Quebec's immigration) for the CSQ. We mailed all of that off on February 1, 2013. Our credit card was charged by MICC on Feb 12, and we haven't heard anything else.

As for a work permit, my understanding is that it should have been submitted at the time you submitted the original application packet. You can find more information on this forum (search for OWP - open work permit, I think it is). I think you have to submit a paper OWP application referencing her UCI (client number, which you won't have until you get AOR - acknowledgement of receipt).

Britain is visa exempt like the US, right? So she's here just with her passport stamped as a visitor, as a "temporary resident," right? If so, make sure she applies for an extension of temporary residency at least 30 days before it's set to expire. I asked for a year, stating my desire to stay with my husband while my PR application was evaluated, and I was given a year.

Good luck!